Global Systems & Governance Flashcards
What products do you find palm oil in?
- Cadbury’s Chocolate
- Findus Fish Fingers
- Hair and cleaning products
- Candles
- Processed foods
Palm oil production over time [3]
- Palm oil plantations have 3x in last decade
- Now: 10 firms control 28% of global food production
- UK consumes around 320,000 tonnes/yr
Where is most the world’s palm oil (90%) produced?
Malaysia & Indonesia - South East Asia
In Indonesia how many hectares of rainforest have been transformed into palm oil plantations?
13 million hectares
Environmental impacts of palm oil production [3]
- Chemicals used in palm oil pollute the water
- Environmental damage - 13 million hectares of rainforest destroyed, loss of habitats etc.
- Placed enormous pressures on tropical rainforest biomes
Economic impacts of palm oil production [2]
- Locals are usually obliged to work for low wages
- Many palm oil plantations engage in low paid and exploitative labour
Social impacts of palm oil production [2]
- Child labour and forced labour is common practice
- TNCs have often forced local inhabitants off the land, sometimes violently
Making palm oil production sustainable?
- Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
2,000 members over 75 countries
RSPO-certified palm oil has to be environmentally responsible & conserves natural resources & biodiversity, alongside consideration of employees and local communities
Between Jan 2015-16 how much have sales of RSPO palm oil increased?
- Three-fold, however there are still ongoing investigations of child & forced labour.
What are tariffs?
- A tax on imports
What’s an import license?
- National gov’s use to authorise the importation of goods from a specific source
What are import quotas?
- A physical limit on the quantity of goods that can be imported into a country
What are subsidies?
- Allowances awarded to domestic products to make them more competitive against imported.
What are voluntary export restraints?
- Offered by exporting country to appease the importing country + deter from imposing trade barriers
What are embargoes?
Partial/complete prohibition of trade with a country - usually done politically
Advantages of international trade [3]
- Transfer of technology -> supporting innovation & enterprise
- Increased employment -> more jobs across whole economy
- Economies of scale -> country can produce in higher volumes when producing lower range of goods
Disadvantages of international trade [3]
- De-skilling -> traditional skills may be lost when tech replaces manpower
- Exploitative and labour-intensive industries -> mass-production often causes sweatshops + bad conditions
- Stunted growth of local industries -> cannot compete with cheaply produced global products.
Define globalisation [2]
- The process of becoming more globally connected on a variety of scales.
- The movement of people, knowledge, ideas, goods & money across national borders , leading to a ‘borderless world’.
What are the types of globalisation? [4]
- Economic - e.g. outsourcing production
- Political - e.g. trade blocs/international orgs e.g. UN
- Cultural - e.g. travel, Westernisation
- Social - e.g. social networking, global NGOs & charities
What are capital flows?
- The movement of money for the purpose of investment, trade or business
production.
What are the major flows of capital?
- Core regions - wealthier, developed countries that have power
- Periphery regions - less wealthy, developing/ less developed countries
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) - an international corporation that aims to ensure financial stability, high employment & stable economic growth.
- The World Bank - a group of global institution that gives out loans for relief
What are flows of labour?
The movement of people who move to work in another country.
What are the impacts of flows of labour? [3]
- Most migrants have some level of education
- Can afford to move, therefore not very poorest in giving nation
- Long term issue as people stop sending remittances after 2/3 generations
By how much did global trade increase between 1870 and 1913?
4.1% a year
What % of the world’s population today are international migrants?
3-4% with majority of migrants migrating to HICs
What are highly skilled workers?
Highly trained in jobs that require a great deal of skill, such as in medicine, science, or ICT